IN-PERSON Barcelona Livable Cities. Section A

Abstract

Although interventions on religious buildings have become increasingly common, existing studies predominantly focus on technicalities with limited systematic exploration on how such interventions influence cultural significance and tolerance for change. This study conducts a systematic literature review to examine the interplay between cultural significance and tolerance for change in the context of interventions on religious buildings. A comprehensive search of SCOPUS and Web of Science databases yielded 99 relevant publications, including 27 that address cultural significance, 10 that focus on tolerance for change, and 5 that explore the relationship between the two. The findings indicate that research on rehabilitation, restoration and reconstruction dominates the field. Key changes to heritage attributes involve alterations of use, building form and setting, and interior design. While interest in evaluating heritage values after interventions is growing, only few studies examine the evolving nature of such values over time. Tolerance for change is often implicitly reflected in stakeholder perspectives rather than conceptualized through systematic framework. Moreover, the relationship between cultural significance and tolerance for change remains underexplored. This review highlights critical research gaps and calls for future studies to adopt more holistic, dynamic and participatory approaches to better understand how cultural significance evolves through interventions on religious buildings.